This New Agency's Name Makes You Think of Death

SoRIIP Digitalis getting ripped to launch itself as a new digital agency out of Orange County. Great timing (or not) it would seem, given
that AdWeek just questioned why some agencies are making it in Southern California and others are not. RIIP Digital will be led by Ryan Rasmussen and Steven Patton, former CEO of AKMG. Of the
new endeavor, Patton says, “I'm extremely enthusiastic about this new opportunity with Ryan and riip.com. Having taken close to three years
off from the industry after the sale of AKMG, I've had numerous opportunities presented to me. This was the first opportunity that I was excited to join. I was fortunate to work with a phenomenal team
at my previous company, many of whom have gone on to be leaders in our industry. Ryan has the same vision and is giving me the autonomy to build a world-class team. That gets me excited!” I only
have one reservation. The name. I can't be the only person who, upon first look, saw RIP Digital instead of RIIP Digital. You'd think they'd want to steer clear of anything associated with the "death
of digital." Or death in general.

Oh, and isn't Publicis Groupe jumping for joy this week! And every other agency that has been sucked up by the holding company behemoth and been
dragged kicking and screaming into the nightmarish world of Lotus Notes (technically IBM Notes). It seems the party's on at Publicis agencies this week, as the giant has finally relented and is
shifting from Notes to Microsoft Outlook for email and calendaring. Never before has such mundane news risen to such heightened frenzy in the agency world.

You've likely have never
heard of Turn Creative, a Hong Kong-based creative boutique that prides itself on staying small and out of the AAAA's. But you're going to love what founder Tony Hon has to say about agency pitches.
Hon says: "We seldom do pitches. I don’t see the reason for pitching. Before having a thorough
understanding of your potential clients, I don’t see what makes a pitcher qualified for giving advice. In many cases, marketers already have a clear idea of which agency they prefer. The pitch
process is a required company policy in disguise. Big agencies are trapped in a vicious cycle where deep-seated problems from the pitching system like long working hours and low productivity remain
unsolved." Right? Right? He's right, right?

As if inventing something new, Jacksonville Beach ad agency Void Creative has rebranded to Adjective & Co. and will focus on
marketing to Millennials. Of the shift -- after all, naming an agency Void Creative is, shall we say, devoid of common sense -- Co-Founder Taylor Harkey said: "Our name describes what we do perfectly. Yes we create ads, but in
order for an ad to be good, it has to be creative, meet objectives and drive business. Millennials no longer respond to being sold 'nouns' -- they respond to feelings and personalities, created by
adjectives." Really, Taylor -- really? You think using emotion and personas hasn't been the way agencies have crafted campaigns for, oh, the last 60 years or so? Damn Millennials. Thinking everything
they do is new.

Answering a Quora question, "What is it like to work at an advertising agency?",
advertising copywriter and critic Caroline Zelonka wrote, among other highly informative and insightful information about working in ad agencies: "It all sounds like heaven, right? It is, but agencies
can also be high-pressure, with lots of competition and politicking. The agency environment is also male-dominated, especially in the higher creative echelons. Women who succeed can often be
back-stabby, and in my experience, not very nurturing when it comes to younger female talent. This is one thing I did not like about working for big agencies; a lot of the women reminded me of the
Mean Girls movie."

Yes, I am fully aware this question was answered two years ago so you don't have to get all over me for that one. Zelonka does offer some very valuable --
and timeless -- information to those thinking of working in an ad agency. Having spent many years there myself, I can completely concur with her assessment.

She points out that it
can be "awesome" and rewarding both personally and professionally. She points out the many perks that come with working in an ad agency, and equally, the many long hours and client frustrations that
go hand in hand with all the awesomeness.

Perhaps you've already read her Quora post. Perhaps you haven't. It's worth a read if you're interested in considering an ad agency career or if
you have been asked this question by another person who's interested.

Three guys from Italian ad agency Le Balene decided to do something a bit different to pitch a piece of business. They decided to walk from their agency in Milan to a prospect's office in Reggio
Emilia, a distance of 125 miles.

Agency CEO Marco Andolfato along with creatives Davide Canepa and Francesco Guerrera left their office last Friday, and if all goes according to plan, the
trio will arrive at the prospect's office today, Friday.

The brand they are pitching is a mobile accessories provider and the purpose of the trek, according to Andolfato, is to
demonstrate just how mobile society has become and how much actual work can get done outside the confines of an office because of the mobile tools available today.

Elaborating on this,
Andolfato told AdWeek: "We want to demonstrate that technology is an enabler
of whatever you want to do. Every worker is a mobile one these days, and every worker can use technology to work better. As advertising people, to work better we need to take more time to think, and
technology is helping us to savor slowness, and to think faster. So, we decided to walk the 200 kilometers from our office to the client's, working on the presentation while on the journey."

Here's a video of them on the excursion. They've hashtagged their journey #mobileworkers and their experiences will be incorporated into their pitch once
they arrive.

Andolfato explains: "We are preparing a movie — shooting during the days and editing it during the evenings. This should exemplify the idea, but just in case, we're
preparing 4/5 strategic slides. Of course, we're planning to enter the meeting room with backpacks and boots."

Increasingly, there aren't many people who know what a Walkman is. And it seems, there are a lot of Millennials who don't really understand what a realtor is or how this non-digital human can add
value beyond the mouse click to the home-buying process.

The National Association of Realtors just awarded its account to Arnold Worldwide after having been handled by Most for the past
20 years. Arnold will be charged with making the realtor relevant again.

Of the win, Arnold Global President Pam Hamlin said: “Arnold is tasked with helping NAR reclaim the
Realtor’s role in the overall home-buying process, and to educate millennials on what a Realtor does and the value they can provide."

Hamlin adds that Arnold will “target
millennials through an integrated cross-channel campaign, which will center primarily on television and digital activations.” Work is expected to break in the fourth quarter.

Of
choosing Arnold over incumbent Most which also participated in the pitch, National Association of Realtors Senior VP of Communications Stephanie Singer said: “Most participated in the pitch and
made it to the final round. The decision ultimately was not about the past quality of their work, only an interest in moving in a different direction.”

On the upside, a recent eMarketer report found Twitter ad revenue will rise 62.1% to $1.34 billion in 2015. On the
not so upside, a June 2015 Cowen and Company research report found that 58.7% of people don't find Twitter ads relevant to their needs. Only 3.1% said Twitter ads were relevant and insightful.

In terms of how often people notice Twitter ads, 56.6% of respondents saw ads at least every 20 tweets. Breaking that down a bit, 5.8% saw ads every 5 tweets; 18.2% every 10 tweets; 17.1% every
15 tweets and 15.5% every 20 tweets.

And while better creative will certainly improve these numbers, the onus stretches beyond ad creativity to targeting capability. While Twitter
currently has targeting capabilities, these capabilities will very likely improve with the recent acquisition of TellApart and a partnership with Google's DoubleClick.

Way back in 2004, University of Central Florida graduate and Woo Creative Founder Ryan Boylston began hosting an event called Arnold Day. Arnold Day, which started with just Boylston and a few
friends gathering at Orlando bar Lazy Moon to watch Schwarzenegger movies on the actor's birthday, has grown to a 1,200-person event.

Of the event's genesis, Boylston said: "Way back when, it was a simple concept… two Arnold fans, a 19-inch TV, a
VCR -- that's right, a VCR -- and the greatest pizza/beer establishment in Orlando."

Each year, diehard Arnold fans showed up in their favorite Arnold movie attire, to share their love
for Mr. "I'll be back!"

On how the day will go down, Lazy Moon Co-Owner Tim Brown said: "Ryan's awesome. On Arnold Day, we'll serve German or Austrian beers, bratwurst pizza and the event
has caught on with both employees and customers. We're not sure Arnold will show up, but it's a fun day either way."

The event also supports Boylston's fundraising goals, which include
collecting $20,000 which will be donated to Boynton Beach-based CJ Foundation which provides financial resources to families with special needs children.

Of the charity side of the
effort, Boylston said: "The monies we raise are for kids to receive therapy not covered by insurance. This therapy can change the trajectory of a child's life."

Donations will be
collected at the Arnold Day event but anyone can visit the Arnold Day website on which contributions can be made.

This year, Arnold Day will
be Aug. 1 at Lazy Moon Pizza, 11551 University Blvd., in Orlando.

I suppose it's entirely possible that there are hundreds of companies with the word "shift" in their name. And here's another; one that might raise an eyebrow with marketing agency Shift
Communications. Why? Because ShiftRGB.com (which, anachronistically, displays only 1995ish "coming soon" text).

Given the current focus on content, it really isn't all that surprising that public relations agencies are morphing into full-blown marketing agencies. After all, public relations agencies were always
the masters of manipulation when it came to the written journalistic word.

The CEO of Zeno Group, Barby Siegel, says her previously PR-focused agency has become "an integrated
communications agency born from PR. We have cracked the code in terms of the kind of agency we are and the kind of work we want to do. Now that does not mean we all look the same all over the world,
but it means we are all focused on integrated communications born from PR. In terms of Edelman, we’ve also cracked the code as a sister agency that is not better or worse, but different. We have
our own culture and fill a niche in the marketplace."

And on the creative aspects of her changed agency, she adds: "To come up with a big creative idea is brave, but to then say we are not going to go ahead with
that idea because it’s not going to sell more phones or tablets, bottles of juice or whatever is even braver. Our guiding light every day is the fearless pursuit of the unexpected, but it is not
creativity for the sake of it."

None of this, of course, is surprising. While the "big idea" is still central to the success of any good marketing program, where that big idea plays out
-- increasingly in native advertising, social media and other forms of written content rather than TV commercials -- has always been the strong suit of a PR agency versus an ad agency. Given this,
it's only logical that PR agencies lay down a bigger footprint.

Following its premiere at the Palais des Festivals during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and a showing in Milan on July 15, Saatchi & Saatchi continues to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of its New Directors’ Showcase, this time with a New York City screening event at the Museum of Modern Art Tuesday, August 25.

Saatchi & Saatchi will present the New
Directors Showcase featuring this year’s directing talent as well as the U.S. premiere of “25X25”: an "experiment in film" directed by 25 New Directors' Showcase alumni who have been
recognized for their successful film, television, and advertising careers.

Of the event, Andy Gulliman, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Director of Film
& Content and curator of the New Directors Showcase said: “Back in 1991 an idea was conceived for a Showcase that would reflect the agency’s reputation for nurturing and developing new
talent. 25 years later we are still committed to providing a global platform for new directing talent.”

Saatchi & Saatchi New York CEO Brent Smart added: “It was a real
highlight to experience the New Directors’ Showcase and 25X25 Film at Cannes this year and we couldn’t be more excited to bring this event to New York. I hope our clients, partners, and
people find the same inspiration from the next generation of filmmakers.”

It seems with the departure of former COO Emily White and former VP of Partnerships Mike Randall, Snapchat is facing a bit of a challenging re-org according to several ad agency executives.

One executive, speaking to Business Insideron the condition of anonymity, said: "When
they speak to us, it feels very ad-hoc. We wanted to do something with them that would make headlines — like McDonald's did with its geofilter but they were not equipped to do that and respond
to our pitch and think of ideas. It seems to me like the McDonald's geo-filter came from the brand and agency, who asked them: 'Can you do this?' And the sales side says: 'Yes, we can, if it's not too
hard for us to do.' It feels like they're saying 'We don't have time to do that now.'"

Another agency exec added: "There's not a raft of case studies from an advertising point of view.
And those that are there feel very limited. It's like the early stages of Facebook and Twitter, mostly talking about engagement and likes. We're at the start of a shiny new toy. From a brand
perspective, Snapchat offers great access to a young audience and it's getting to the point where it feels unparalleled, like a deeper version of Instagram. What they need to do now is demonstrate
they are a relevant and a credible advertising player."

Of course, it is natural for a startup to experience growing pains, and Snapchat points out the amount of repeat business they have
experienced from brands and agencies is a healthy sign of success. Of course, it could simply be shiny new object syndrome. And yet, Mondelez CMO Dana Anderson is pleased and said: "I love the fact
that they're getting into the space and becoming an avid marketing partner."

Universal Pictures EVP of Digital Marketing Doug Neil added, "We were very satisfied with the
experience," regarding a promotion they ran with Snapchat for the movie Ouija.

Jerry Della Femina, who Matt Weiner said inspired his AMC series "Mad Men," is planning to launch a TV show about advertising in the 70's which, he says, "Will make Mad Men look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. For those who don't get
the reference -- I didn't -- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1903 American novel about the trials and tribulations of girl in Maine who lived with her two stern aunts.

Of the series, which is still in the works, Della Femina said: "'Mad Men' was a show about the 1950s and ’60s." His series will be “a total crazy celebration of the not-PC
’70s, back when advertising was fun.”

Of the type of topics his series will cover, Della Femina recants a story about how his agency held an annual sex contest during which
people voted on whom they'd most like to have sex with and how much marijuana played a role in daily agency life.

Can the market stand another show about advertising? Could it possibly be
as good as "Mad Men?" Will MediaPost'sBarbara Lippert write another amazing weekly column about the series much like she did for "Mad Men?" Can we stand 5-7 years of low-rider
striped bellbottoms and bushy hairstyles? These are the burning questions of the minute.